Be Proud
by Lazy Wonderland
Summary: 1984, Alfred decides to move to London to pursue his music career. What he doesn't expect is to be whisked away in a crowd and suddenly become the newest member of the International Gay Rights Group, meeting all sorts of new people from all over the world.
1. Chapter 1

_watch?v=lotkzHsIuoA (youtube) London Calling (I know this song is used a lot in films but 'come out of the cupboard' seemed like the perfect lyric)_

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 _watch?v=zbYcte4ZEgQ (youtube) I'm Coming Out (skip to 0:51 if you don't want to listen to the intro)_

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 _London calling to the Faraway towns_

 _now war is declared, and battle come down_

 _London Calling to the underworld_

 _Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls_

Alfred thanked his lucky stars for how good the timing was when that song came on. He walked out onto the streets of London just as The Clash's 'London Calling' started blaring through his headphones. He was actually here, in London, the centre of the music he had devoted his life to. Despite the sky being grey and a slight drizzle in the air, he was ecstatic. Making sure his guitar case was properly on his shoulder, he set out onto the cobbled streets of London he had been wishing for so long to get to. He was supposed to meet Matthew at a tea shop by River Brent, wherever the hell that was. He decided to turn back into the train station to ask for directions. The tourist guide seemed to grimace at the name of the tea shop but politely gave directions anyway. Despite the babble of street names the guide had given him, Alfred still managed to get lost. Well, he got caught up in a crowd which happened to lead him in the opposite direction he was supposed to be going. Most of the people seemed to be sporting a banner of some kind, but since Alfred fell into step near the back he couldn't really see what they were supporting. Pausing his Walkman, Alfred tapped the shoulder of the shorter, brown haired guy slightly ahead of him. The brown haired guy also seemed to have one curl out of place, which defied all laws of hair and Alfred loved it.

"Hi! Is there anything I can help you with?" Alfred noted the Italian tone to his voice.

"Uh, wow. I thought I'd be meeting English people here in England."

The Italian grinned widely. "So did I, but I guess we were both wrong."

Alfred chuckled. "So, what are you marching here for?"

The Italian's smile faltered slightly as if disappointed. "Gay rights."

Alfred's eyes lit up. "Really? That's rad! Mind if I join you?"

It was the Italian's turn for his eyes to light up. "Sure! I'm Feliciano."

"Alfred." Feliciano kissed Alfred on both cheeks as a greeting, which took Alfred by surprise a bit. Suddenly a tall, muscular man with blonde hair next to Feliciano broke into their conversation.

"Who are you kissing now, Feli?" The man's voice was low and German, and a little too intimidating for Alfred's liking. Feliciano latched onto the man's arm.

"Just a new friend." He smiled sweetly at the blonde haired blue eyed babe and stretched up to kiss him.

At this point Alfred couldn't work out whether the blonde haired guy and Feliciano were romantically together or just friends; Feliciano's demeanour was too friendly.

"Jeez Feli, you make friends faster than I can even introduce my self."

"Oh yeah, introductions." It was more of an afterthought to Feliciano. "Ludwig, this is Alfred. Alfred, this is my boyfriend, Ludwig." Ludwig extended a stern hand and Alfred took it. Ah, so they _were_ in a relationship. Ludwig nodded at Alfred then put his arm around Feliciano. The three started walking together with Feliciano in the middle.

"Wow, we never have these in the States. What would Mom think?" Alfred chuckled. "Hey Mom, guess what? Your son's marching for gay rights because he's gay. Your son's gay. I'm gay!" Alfred's smile grew wider and wider as he said this. He laughed delightedly. "That sounds so funny out loud."

Feliciano was grateful this man stumbled into their group. He loved seeing people happy about being themselves.

"Hey, Alfred? We have this group called International Gay Rights and we meet regularly. I was wondering if you could join?"

"Of course!" He replied instantly. It was true the parade of bright colours lit up the drizzling grey of London, as he looked to the outside of the Gay Pride he saw wandering people angrily glare at them while others avoided any eye contact altogether. He shunned this away and beamed at the assortment of people waving multicoloured banners, flags and generally radiating pure excitement. However, even he could not deny that many more people were gathering and they looked extremely disgusted, a wave of panic engulfed him and he had to grip hold of the Walkman in his pocket. Sure he had been the captain of the football team, but it didn't mean he liked the idea of actual fighting without rules or a referee blowing the whistle to stop before anything happened.

He tried to smile all the same. "Aren't you worried about people, you know, getting angry?"

Feliciano turned to Alfred, bright-eyed but wise. "Angry? All the time, but if we stopped when those angry people attack us then how will we get our rights acknowledged?" Alfred nodded his head. In the corner of his eye he saw Ludwig curve an arm around Feliciano's shoulders. "We've only had people shout at us, nothing physical so I wouldn't worry too much." He smiled to himself and nestled close to Ludwig, leaving Alfred somewhat embarrassed and so he looked to the other protesters. Many were young men, although a few women were dotted here and there. Alfred witnessed three young men break away from the crowd and run off towards a family trying to take a photo beside a monument. The blonde was expertly complimenting everyone although the elderly woman simply brandished her handbag so that he didn't get too close, a brunette was talking to the two children and suddenly hid behind the last white-haired man when the boy began screaming. The white-haired one tried to make the boy laugh by repeatedly slapping the brunette. It was entertainment for sure.

"Who-"

"My brother is such an idiot sometimes." Ludwig huffed as he scowled at the three men successfully harassing the family and moving into a couple with a baby pram. He kissed Feliciano on the forehead and raced after them, probably a good thing as the brunette loomed over the pram.

"The blonde one chatting up the husband is Francis, the one making the children cry is Antonio and the one Ludwig is carrying over his shoulder is Gilbert, his older brother." Feliciano explained, Alfred gawped at him.

"Older?"

"You wouldn't guess it would you? Gil has been good to me though, and his love for Ludwig rivals my own most of the time." Feliciano giggled. "We were all so happy when he also found a boyfriend, shame he couldn't join us. I think he said he was meeting someone."

Alfred continued to walk and talk and wave a flag with Feliciano and his group. Soon Ludwig came back and kept Gilbert within sight at all times, leaving the three friends to annoy the group instead of unfortunate people out for an afternoon of sight-seeing. Time moved slowly within the march which didn't mind Alfred at all as Feliciano explained what International Gay Rights were and what the marches would do and how often they meet. It was a lot of information and Alfred became distracted through most of it, mainly by Antonio who climbed onto the shoulders of Gilbert to wave the highest flag, Francis didn't look so amused but made no move to stop the two. "Damn it Antonio!" A curve of a smile appeared on Francis' lips as a Feliciano twin pushed people aside to get to the Spaniard. The twin's hair was slightly darker, and his face didn't have the same easy smile and bright eyes. He seemed, in a word, grumpy. "Lovi, you came!" Antonio greeted happily. "It was Gilbert's idea."

The twin by the name of 'Lovi' crossed his arms bitterly. "You're gonna kill yourself, get down from there you idiota."

Gilbert leant down and Antonio leapt off effortlessly. After he regained his balance he placed a hand on Lovi's shoulder.

"Aw, so you do care about me."

Lovi looked away. "No, no talking to me when you look stupid."

The Spaniard was wearing bright rainbow coloured shirt along with a pink feather boa (Gilbert and Francis were also wearing the same), in contrast to Lovi's black shirt.

"That's my big brother Lovino. He and Antonio are in a relationship, isn't that cute?" Feliciano clarified. Alfred nodded in agreement.

The march carried on for a couple hours and Alfred felt as if he needed to be somewhere. He forgot about the feeling, however, when their small group broke off from the crowd.

"Where are we going now?" Alfred was confused.

"The cafe where we usually hang out." Ludwig explained.

"Ohh. That's cool, dude. I hope they serve coffee."

Through all the excitement Feliciano started singing.

"The time has come for me to break out of the shell"

Francis, Antonio and Gilbert joined in.

"I have to shout that I am coming out"

Despite his intimidating air, Ludwig also joined in.

"I'm coming out, I want the world to know, I got to let it show."

By now even Alfred joined in and he didn't even know the song. Everyone in the group except Lovino were singing, and they were all shooting him glances to get him to join in. They were practically singing it _to_ him. In the end, Ludwig looked at him as if to say 'if I'm singing, you're singing too.' And with that Lovino started singing.

"I'm coming out, I want the world to know, I got to let it show."

At Tea'se me, a small tea emporium overlooking River Brent, Matthew sat alone. He was worried Alfred might've lost his way. Arthur, the guy who owned the place, didn't even notice he had come in; Matthew was used to that sort of thing. He was also worried his friends might come before Alfred and he wouldn't be able to spend some alone time with the guy he hadn't seen in seven years. They would probably be all over him as soon as he walked through the door. Soon a chorus of Diana Ross' 'I'm Coming Out' burst into the tea emporium and Gilbert was suddenly next to him.

"And this, Alfred, is my boyfriend Matthew." He was very proud of that fact. The rest of the group waited for Alfred and Matthew to formally meet, to shake hands or something. But instead both men started laughing, then embraced in a hug.

Gilbert was the most confused for he questioned it verbally.

"Uh... What? Do you guy know each other, or something?"

"Know each other?!" Alfred exclaimed, "We're brothers! I haven't this guy in over four years though."

"Seven years. We haven't seen each other in seven years." Matthew corrected quietly.

"Well, it looks like we have a lot of catching up to do then!" Alfred smiled brightly.

A few tables were pulled together and soon Feliciano was explaining who Alfred was, until Alfred took over, that is. He described how he and Matthew grew up in different countries due to their parents divorcing at a young age. Alfred had grown up in the States with their mum while Matthew had gone to live with their dad in Canada.

"And so, I came to London to pursue my music career" He pointed to his guitar case which now sat leaning against his chair. "Well, it was mainly to come and see the Sex Pistols live."

"The sex pistols? It makes a change for an American to be knowledgable on _good_ music." Alfred looked towards the owner of that sarcastic voice and found a young man dressed impeccably neatly although he wore a colourful apron around his waist. Messy blonde hair and a permanent frown, Alfred couldn't tear his eyes from the man's face, more importantly those thick eyebrows he sported.

"Uh yeah, I've liked 'em for a long time." Alfred replied sheepishly but his overconfident personality blossomed through.

The man smirked as if unconvinced. "Sure. So you're pursuing a career in music? Are you actually any good?"

Alfred wanted to retort but his throat constricted. Usually he could comeback with something witty, as was the need when wanting a life in the finicky industry that was music, but the man's cynical tone and direct posture caught him completely off guard.

"Oh Arthur, give the kid a break." A shade of red bloomed on Arthur's cheeks. It was rather entertaining to see his composure broken.

"I don't recall wanting your input, Bonnefoy." He snapped loudly. Soon enough Francis and Arthur were in a tennis match-like argument with everyone watching avidly.

As Alfred studied the English blonde, Feliciano leaned over and whispered in his ear. "They had a one night stand once." He giggled. "They've been arguing like this ever since."

Alfred turned his attention to Feliciano. "Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "It seems like they've known each other for a long time."

Feliciano sat back. "They have. I've known Francis longer, but even then they seemed like good friends. If only that one night stand had grown into something more."

Alfred gazed back at the two arguing. It was going to be interesting here, he could tell. Matthew then explained he was staying above the tea emporium with Arthur. It was a small flat but there were three bedrooms, so Alfred would be staying too. He didn't argue.

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 ** _So this is a sort of update whenever fic, so don't expect weekly updates._**

 ** _Just to warn you now, this is a very flexible story, so ships could change. For instance, it could start out as a UsUk, but then BAM! Kiku shows up and suddenly it's an AmeriPan one._**

 ** _Expect more love triangles than in a Korean High School Drama._**

 ** _Also, I'm writing this in collab with Fatal Fandomer, who you should definitely check out._**

 ** _'Kay thaannnkkkss :)_**

 ** _Also, reviews are loved greatly._**


	2. Chapter 2

_Young Americans - (youtube) watch?v=KSHY1_ux8rs_

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Feliciano enjoyed art school in London. Ludwig had been able to get a job as a mechanic nearby so he was able to pick him up after work. Feliciano's school day usually finished two hours before Ludwig's work day finished, but he didn't mind; he was glad of the extra hours to get work done. Although the school was fancy and he was able to get to art supplies he only ever dreamed of at home, he was lonely throughout the day. In the first few weeks he was able to make a couple of friends who didn't make fun of his accent, but almost as soon as he started talking to them they would go sit somewhere else. He had not mentioned his sexuality and his nationality didn't seem to bother them, so he was completely in the dark as to what he had done wrong. Now, nearly two weeks into the new half term, he sat on a table alone.

This term's topic was realism and Feliciano couldn't be happier. He loved realism and that meant he could ask Ludwig to be a model whenever he wanted to, but now with an actual reason. He couldn't wait to do studies of nudes. When Feliciano first came into class that morning his usually empty table was occupied by someone Feliciano had never met before. The seat next to Feliciano's was taken by a short, thin man a little older than Feliciano with straight black hair. Feliciano was over the moon. He was doing realism and he had someone to talk to about it. After he sat down and set out his array of pencils onto the desk, he extended out a hand to the man.

"Hi! My name's Feliciano, but you can call me Feli. What's yours?" The man didn't take Feliciano's hand, but instead bowed his head politely.

"Konnichuwa, I am Kiku Honda. Pleased to meet you."

Feliciano took back his hand. "Wow, are you from Japan?"

"I am." He was very proud of this fact. "Are you from Italy?"

"Yeah, my brother and I came here from Venice. So is it the only school that brought you to London? It was for me. That and I have never been to England before. Can you believe how much it rains here? It's so cold too. No wonder the British always complain about the weather." Kiku was rather taken aback by this babble of words but he was determined to answer all questions.

"Ah, well this school and also my brother wanted to come here to go to a cooking school near here. No, I cannot believe the amount of rain, but in Japan we have a time of the year called the - how would you say in English— the rainy season. I guess that is all year round for the British." Feliciano seemed satisfied with this answer and soon both men were chatting like old friends.

A quarter of the way into the lesson Feliciano realised he hadn't even gotten his piece out to work on. He excused himself from their otherwise interesting conversation, and made his way to the back of the room where the cupboard in which his art resided. When he opened the doors, however, his happiness faltered. The words 'faggot,' 'unnatural,' 'gaylord' and other discriminating words like that were scrawled on the front covers of nearly all his sketchbooks and portfolios. Feliciano raked a hand through his hair worriedly. So they knew. How did they know? He quickly picked up the one he was currently working in and shut the doors before anyone could see. He practically ran back to his seat and hurriedly opened the book to the correct page before anyone could see the word 'pervert' written across the front cover.

"Pervert? What is this?" Kiku was more observant than Feliciano would've liked. Feliciano sighed heavily.

He swallowed hard before saying "It's the word someone would use to make fun of someone who prefers the same sex." He explained. Kiku nodded.

"Do you prefer the same sex, Feli-chan?"

"Yes." What was the point in lying anymore.

"Well then. You must call me a pervert too, for I also prefer the same sex."

Feliciano was astounded. This was the best possible answer he could've gotten. He smiled brightly.

When Ludwig came to walk Feliciano to the café that day he was delighted to be introduced to a new friend. He knew it had taken a while for Feliciano to settle down in England, and a new friend might help him do that.

The new friend bowed politely. "Konnichuwa, I am Kiku Honda. Pleased to meet you."

Ludwig was taken aback by the Asian tradition but bowed his head as well. "Ludwig, nice to meet you too."

Feliciano elbowed him in the ribs and grinned. "He's from Japan." Feliciano's eyes and smile widened in realisation. "He could come to the café."

Ludwig frowned at his odd little Italian. "Are you sure? I mean.."

Feliciano waved his hand dismissively. "It's okay," He turned his gaze to a confused looking Kiku. "Would you like to get some coffee with us?" Feliciano patted Ludwig on the back. "Lud's my boyfriend by the way."

Ludwig hissed. "Feli, not so loud."

Kiku smiled amiably. "Do not worry, Ludwig-san. In my culture it is completely normal for a man to love a man. A lot of famous samurai's were homosexual. I, myself, am a homosexual."

Ludwig sighed heavily, but in a relieved fashion. Kiku smiled up at at the two, one carefree the other stern, they seemed very cute together. "I would be honoured to have coffee with you two." Although it felt like he would be intruding on a date, it seemed he was too polite not to say no.

The walk to the café was somewhat awkward. Kiku found himself flushing red and looking away quickly when Feliciano leaned on his tip toes to kiss Ludwig on the cheek or any other sign of affection that left Kiku feeling more like an extra. That was until a hand grabbed his own, startled he turned to see Feliciano smiling brightly as he swung the entwined hands forwards and backwards. Kiku smiled to himself and soon the unwanted feeling melted away.

The three entered the café and Kiku breathed in the essence of vanilla and the subtle aroma of tea, both a pleasing smell together that didn't overpower anyone who walked in. Kiku glided his eyes over the interior but suddenly stopped on a centre table. His throat constricted. A smash echoed around the café that caused Feliciano to squeak. He grabbed onto Ludwig.

"Kiku?" Feliciano questioned, concern masking his sudden fear of the loud noise. Kiku heard the worried voice, but his beating heart muffled it and his mouth was paralysed in place. All he could do was stare at the sight before him.

"This isn't what it looks like, Kiku!" Yao shouted as he clumsily moved away from the smashed glass, strawberry milkshake splattering the floor. Kiku blinked a few times.

"Yao and I were just sharing a strawberry milkshake." The thick Russian-accented voice came from the man still sitting at the centre table, clearly unperturbed by being _discovered_.

"Then it's exactly what it looks like, right?"

"Not now, Feliciano." Ludwig warned. Yao angrily turned on the Russian. "Why would you say that?" The Russian smiled sweetly. "Because being honest is good, da?"

"I haven't even given him the talk, Ivan!" Yao quietly snapped back. The café filled with a suffocating silence as Ludwig covered Feliciano's mouth, sensing the Italian would want to break the silence with some comment that wouldn't help the situation. Kiku could only stare at Yao, his big brother who had never so much as acknowledged his own preferences, and wondered how he had never heard of this Ivan.

"What the bloody hell?"

Everyone turned to a very disgruntled man in a pink apron.

"Apologies Arthur, Yao knocked it over." Ivan said, to which Arthur's stiff posture shuddered for a second.

He unfolded his previously crossed arms and replied uneasily. "I-It's quite alright. I'll clean it up once Feliciano, Ludwig-" he glanced at Kiku before adding, "and the new gentleman have ordered."

He then crossed the café quickly and asked Ludwig for what they wanted, once the German had gone through the usual and guessed Kiku's drink Arthur noted it down and disappeared behind the counter. The air was still thick as Kiku broke his gaze from his brother to glare at the floor.

"All this time-"

"Don't give me that! It only happened a week ago I swear." Yao interrupted as he always did, but was surprised when a small huff of a laugh escaped Kiku's lips. He smiled as his dark eyes sparkled.

"All this time I have waited for you to figure it out."

Presently, Yao looked confused.

"Kiku knew you were gay all along!" Feliciano shouted excitedly after managing to pry Ludwig's hand away.

It was Yao's turn to redden as Ivan stood up and wrapped his large arms around the smaller man like a mother bear. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you Kiku, I hope we have as much fun as I have with Yao." Ivan said then giggled, although Kiku wasn't fond of the statement he bowed politely and introduced himself.

Before long Ivan had pulled another table over to join the two and the five of them sat waiting for the drinks to arrive. It seemed it was only Arthur that was working and as he was cleaning up the smashed glass Feliciano decided it was the best time to interrogate Ivan and Yao.

"You said it's been a week?" Ludwig had seemingly given up with Feliciano and decided to read a newspaper that had been left on the table, although Kiku sensed the German was still listening intently.

"Well it's difficult to explain." Yao said slowly, but catching Kiku's eye he continued. "It's not that difficult, you see Ivan was stalking me for months and when I tried to confront him about it I ended up on a date with him instead." Kiku heard a faint _Russians_ come from behind the newspaper, however he refrained from speaking and waited for Feliciano to ask another question.

"Stalking?"

"Oh I knew Yao was 'the one' the moment I saw him. So I wanted to find out everything about him, then the first date wouldn't be awkward." Ivan replied happily, hooking an arm around Yao protectively. "And it wasn't, was it?"

Yao laughed uncertainly. "No, not at all." He muttered.

Arthur appeared with their drinks, Yao relieved at the perfect timing. Mostly it was a sea of coffees and another milkshake with two straws, although this time the milkshake looked to be chocolate. Kiku thanked Arthur but scrunched his eyebrows at the glass. "Orange juice?" The newspaper shuffled and was followed by a gruff cough. Kiku drank the juice anyway. The five men started chatting loudly, well Feliciano, Ivan and Yao carried most if the conversation, while Ludwig and Kiku added the occasional comment.

Arthur decided turn on the radio. _Young Americans_ , one of Arthur's favourite David Bowie songs had just started. Sure, David Bowie was a little mellow compared to what Arthur usually listened to, but most of his songs were interesting to listen to. It was the one guilty pleasure he allowed himself to have. At that moment by some coincidence, a young American waltzed into the café and ordered the usual; a black coffee.

"You listen to David Bowie?" Arthur couldn't tell if Alfred sounded sceptical or eager; or both.

Arthur scrunched up his nose and turned down the radio. "Of course not." He didn't know why he was lying to Alfred, or why he wanted to keep his reputation of the metal lover. He didn't care, did he?

"That's too bad, David Bowie is rad." Alfred turned up the radio, took his mug and went to sit with the others. Feliciano introduced Yao, Ivan and Kiku as the 'newest members of the group.' Yao ultimately rejected the idea, but when Ivan rejoiced he had no choice but to also join. Alfred soon fell into the conversation, and when Kiku mentioned Anime the two started chatting eagerly. As Arthur on at the three couples he couldn't help but feel like the odd one out. Despite this, he didn't mind. The café had become a lot more interesting since Feliciano decided to create the group.

 _To be continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a few weeks since Feliciano dragged in three new members, well four including Alfred, who had been apart of the group a good week before the other three were. Whenever Yao came into the café, which was only a couple hours a week, he would always be with Ivan. Kiku came everyday after school with Feliciano and Ludwig. Despite this, Yao still hadn't put two and two together and figured out Kiku was gay. He'd often introduce Kiku to different women from his cooking school but to no avail; Kiku would turn down every single one of them. Feliciano would often sympathise, since his Grandpa assumed he was straight, even when Feliciano came out to him. He, Kiku and Ludwig would often sit together and quickly became good friends. They were sitting together now at the bar of the café. Kiku was fiddling about with his new Polaroid camera, looking through the eye piece now and again to see if he could get a good shot of anything. The lens fell on Gilbert and Matthew, who were sat right next to the large window at the front of the café. The two were in the middle of a kiss full of lust and desire. At this moment, a woman with a push chair in her late 30s rapped the glass where Gilbert and Matthew were currently in an intimate embrace. They pulled apart slightly, but their noses were still touching. Matthew kept his eyes on Gilbert, while Gilbert shifted his gaze to see who had interrupted their make-out session. The woman in question held up a hastily written sign which read; 'God hates you.' Gilbert looked back at Matthew they started kissing again, while Gilbert flipped off the woman in the process. Kiku took a quick snapshot of this sight just before the woman stormed away.

On the other side of the café, Antonio and Lovino were watching the scene unfold. Antonio chuckled at the outcome.

"Aw Lovi, why don't you kiss me like that?"

Lovino narrowed his eyes. "Not in public." He muttered. Lovino seemed a bit extra on-edge lately. This all seemed to be a bit too cheerful; new members, nobody had smashed the glass lately. The café even seemed to be clean on the outside, no graffiti or tags announcing to the world that those who resided within were 'faggots.' To Lovino, this was the calm before the storm. Something terrible was bound to happen and he knew it.

"So that means we're gonna kiss anyway?" Antonio looked hopeful.

Lovino scowled. He loved Antonio and all, but sometimes he was just so dumb. "Why don't _you_ figure that out."

Back at the bar, Kiku's photo had just become visible. He had managed to get it at just the right moment; the woman's face was priceless. Ludwig was sat in the middle of Kiku and Feliciano, Feliciano being closest to the door, and presently was muttering to himself. He was trying to figure out the bills for that month, but Feliciano's constant interruptions had him very distracted. It seemed Feliciano, Ludwig, Gilbert, Lovino and Antonio shared a three bedroom flat just opposite the café. Since Feliciano and Lovino had no real experience with money, and Gilbert and Antonio couldn't be bothered, the financial problems of the five men often fell upon Ludwig.

He had noted down several equations on a scrap piece of paper, and scribbled out several potential answers when Feliciano asked, "Why don't you use a calculator?"

"Because I have started working it out, and I will finish working it out." Ludwig answered curtly.

Feliciano looked down at the bills and Ludwig's scribbles. "I bet _I_ can work it out." He challenged.

Ludwig replied with a small humourless chuckle. Feliciano pouted. He looked down at the papers once again and frowned in concentration.

He looked down at his hands. "Uh, 223.80 Euros."

"It's Pounds, Feliciano." Arthur corrected straightaway, making Kiku jump. Ludwig blinked at his own working out, finished the equation he was working on and put down the pen.

He looked down at the Italian who had a lopsided smile. "How did you know that?"

"Yeah, how _did_ you know that?" Gilbert had now joined them, followed by Matthew. They sat next to Feliciano.

"I'm obviously very good at maths." Feliciano grinned and subtly showed Gilbert a hidden calculator under the bar.

Gilbert gave him a thumbs up. "Yeah bruder, you should have more faith in little Feli." He ruffled Feliciano's hair. At that moment, Antonio walked past, Lovino trailing behind.

"Yo, Toni! Ready for the party later?" Gilbert called after Antonio as he walked past.

"Totally, we're gonna get so drunk and—"

"No we're not." Lovino finished the sentence.

Alfred just about dodged Antonio and Lovino as they crossed paths. The two Europeans were leaving and the American was entering excitedly. It looked like he had some news to share. Kiku, who had been watching all of this through his camera lens, was able to 'accidentally' take a photo of how aesthetically pleasing and excitable Alfred looked at that moment.

"Guys, guys, guess what!" Alfred bounded to the group enthusiastically.

"America called and they want you back for good?" Arthur sounded sarcastically hopeful.

"No, my band got a gig in Birmingham!"

"Birmingham." Arthur corrected.

"That's what I said."

"No, you said 'Birming-ham.' It's pronounced 'Birming-um.'"

"That's weird."

"Wow, you're in a band?" Feliciano dropped into the conversation. Arthur rolled his eyes as Alfred's attention was stolen away by the Italian.

"Yeah! It's me, a Russian guy on the drums, and two other guys helping on vocals while I'm on guitar." Alfred explained excitedly.

"Do you even know their names?" Arthur said challenged.

Alfred waved his hands. "Of course I know their names. I just can't pronounce them." Arthur didn't look very surprised.

"When is the gig, Alfred?" Kiku asked carefully, Birmingham was a big city.

"A couple of weeks from now. And I want you all to come, even grumpy guts can come."

"Excuse me?" Arthur snapped from behind the counter. Alfred batted his eyelashes at him until Arthur walked over with a tray of more drinks. He tore the apron off and sat down with his arms crossed.

"I was entitled to a break anyway. So," he glared at Alfred "Where are these band mates of yours?"

Alfred gulped half the milkshake before answering. "I asked them to come here so they should be here soon."

"You said one was Russian, right?" Gilbert questioned, concern adding an edge to his voice.

"Yeah why?"

Gilbert shuffled in his chair. "Well you know I've bad experiences in the past with Russians. Especially the big guy that comes in here. Now don't get me wrong he's been good to Yao." He lingered a glance at Kiku. "But I don't like the guy much is all. Just passing on some advice like the role model I am."

Ludwig almost chocked behind his newspaper.

Alfred smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

Later on, Lovino found himself in a bar staring at a glass of water. Apparently there was an unspoken rule in Britain that you'd get funny looks if you were a man and ordered a glass of wine instead of beer. Lovino had never drank beer before so he stuck with water.

"This blows, Francis." Gilbert complained.

" _You_ blow." Antonio interjected.

"I thought you said we were going to a party." Gilbert sipped his beer.

"This _is_ a party. A retirement party." Francis stated in a matter-of-fact way.

"This sucks." Gilbert slumped in his seat. All excitement he had prior to this had faded away.

Antonio looked down at Lovino. "Why don't you have any alcohol?"

Lovino shifted his eyes to look at Antonio but didn't move his head. "Well I've never had a beer so I thought I'd stick to water."

The three of them exchanged looks, then stared at Lovino. "Never had a beer?" Gilbert looked the most surprised. "So your dad never took you for your first beer?"

"I don't have a fucking dad, I thought you knew that."

"Grandfather?"

"He only drank wine."

Gilbert turned to the bartender. "Four more beers, please."

Soon, Lovino was staring at a pint of beer instead. He looked uncertainly up at the trio. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Yeah, yeah fine." The three chorussed. Lovino used both hands to lift up the glass and took his first sip. The burning cold liquid scorched down his throat, leaving an odd sensation in his stomach. And that was the last thing Lovino remembered.

At about ten to one in the morning Feliciano and Ludwig came home to three drunk men on their sofa. Gilbert was sat in the middle with a tie around his head while Antonio, who was perching on the edge of the sofa, poured wine over him. Francis was leaning over Gilbert and trying to kiss him, but Gilbert was pushing him away with his foot. Ludwig was ultimately ashamed by this sight, but Feliciano just found it funny. He was glad Kiku had left his Polaroid behind, he was able to take a picture of the funny sight.

"I suppose we better put them to bed." Ludwig began to move. Feliciano followed. Francis fell flat on his face on the sofa when Ludwig dragged Gilbert from beneath him, and started snoring heavily. Feliciano helped Antonio off the edge off the sofa and lead him to his and Lovino's room. Feliciano wondered for a second where Lovino was, but his worries were put to rest when he spotted a Lovino-sized lump on the bed. Antonio stumbled and fell noisily next to the lump.

"Sh, you might wake up Lovino." Feliciano whispered.

Antonio rolled around and held a finger up to the lump as if to silence it. "Shh, Lovino está dormido."

Feliciano chuckled, and soon stopped chuckling and started panicking as Antonio started gagging. He leapt to the door and poked his head round to meet Ludwig stood carrying an unconscious Gilbert bridal style. Feliciano opened his mouth to speak but stopped short when he heard the contents of Antonio's stomach staining the carpet. He sighed and shut the door behind him.

"Would you open the door, please?" Ludwig nodded to Gilbert's door.

"Oh, right." Feliciano nodded and held the door open. Once Gilbert was somewhat thrown into bed, the two retreated to their own bedroom. Ludwig sat heavily on his side of the bed and started getting undressed. Feliciano clambered on behind him.

"Are we still gonna do it?" He asked innocently.

"Maybe not tonight." Ludwig spoke gruffly.

Feliciano let out a noise of disappointment and wrapped his arms around Ludwig in a bear hug from behind. "Not even for a little bit?"

Ludwig was able to manuever himself until he was on top and pinning down Feliciano. He leant down a little. "Not even for a little bit." He rolled onto his back letting go of Feliciano.

Feliciano pouted. "You tease."

"Go to sleep, Feliciano."

"Ti amo."

"Ich liebe dich." Ludwig turned off the light.

Antonio groggily opened his eyes, and with a splitting headache tried to decipher what exactly had happened last night. To Antonio, this was the best part of the hangover day (besides the ending), the part when you have yet to experience the worst and when you don't have to face the consequences of the night before yet. He could just lazily waste the day away if he wanted. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes he noticed the Lovino-sized lump next to him. Perhaps it would be a bad idea to wake him up, but just maybe Lovino wouldn't swear as much today due to the hangover he would be getting. He lightly tapped Lovino on the shoulder. When he didn't respond, Antonio tried to shake him awake. It didn't work. Lovino lay unmoving. In fact, Antonio could swear he wasn't even breathing. Panicked, Antonio ripped the duvet away. In Lovino's place, sat a pillow. A pillow. This meant that either Lovino was pranking him, or Lovino was missing. He hoped to God it wasn't the second one. He flew out the room and leapt to the sofa, making a half-asleep fall off.

"Have you seen Lovino? I thought you were looking after him." Antonio's alarming tone of voice made Francis sit up too quickly and smack his head on the coffee table on the way up.

He rubbed the back of his head. "I thought Gilbert was keeping an eye on him."

Antonio burst into Gilbert's room. "Gilbert, where's Lovino?"

Without even opening his eyes, Gilbert waved a hand dismissively. "I thought you had him in your pants or something…" Gilbert trailed off and started snoring again. Antonio rushed to Ludwig and Feliciano's room and pounded on the door. It took a few moments for it to open, and there stood Feliciano rubbing his eyes and yawning in a shirt way too big for him.

"Do you know where Lovino is?" Antonio was desperate now.

"I thought he was in bed with you?" Feliciano racked a hand through his bedhead.

Antonio shook his head "That was a pillow! ¿Dónde está Lovino, él podría estar en cualquier parte, lo que si está muerto?"

Feliciano placed a hand on Antonio's shoulder. "Calm down, we'll find him." And with that he went back into the room. In fact, it was Feliciano who needed calming down. He needed Ludwig, but Ludwig had left early that morning and left him a note. It read; 'Gone shopping. I've brewed some coffee for the drunkards. Remember to put on some trousers. Don't forget to shower. - Ludwig.' Feliciano looked down at himself and he was indeed only wearing a top. He quickly shoved on some trousers and shoes and ran out of the apartment. If he didn't have Ludwig's organisational skills, he would have to find someone else, and the only person he could think of at that moment was Arthur. Luckily, the café was only on the other side of the street, but the cold hit Feliciano nonetheless. Apparently, 7ºC was quite mild for the British, but a cold winter's day to an Italian. Bursting into the café, Feliciano noticed Alfred was at the bar drinking some coffee while arguing with Arthur, and Matthew was in the corner sipping hot chocolate and reading a newspaper.

Running up to Alfred and Arthur, he let a babble of words spill. "I thought he was there, but it was actually a pillow but now he's gone and Anotnio's speaking Spanish and he could be anywhere, he could dead!"

"Wow wow, calm down, and slow down." Alfred put down his coffee. "Okay, start from the beginning."

Feliciano drew in a deep breath.

Lovino opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling. A headache split through the centre of his head as he tried to sit up. He had a crick in his neck as he had been sleeping on an uncomfortable foreign bed. He had no idea where he was.

* * *

 _To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

Antonio paced the café impatiently as people organised themselves around him. He barely heard Arthur explaining the situation to everyone; Francis, Feliciano, Ludwig(who came back from shopping to find his boyfriend a complete wreck) and Alfred would also be helping in the search. He felt angry at himself for allowing it to happen, and his own subconscious butchered him with horrible scenarios. Shamefully, half of them weren't so impossible if the monsters in Antonio's abusive imagination knew what Lovino was. Antonio felt sick at the thought and began muttering things in Spanish. Arthur turned to Ludwig suddenly. "Where is Gilbert?" He questioned. Sheepishly and mildly frustrated Ludwig answered with a simple: "Too hungover." A mass nodding of heads signalled these words were empathised. "Well, we can't afford to wait on his hangover, we'll just have to have us six-" Arthur was interrupted by Kiku entering the café cautiously. He was instantly jumped on by Feliciano. Through hiccupping-tears he spoke quickly. "Kiku you came to help, grazie!" "Help with what? I came here to look for my camera." Kiku choked from within Feliciano's surprisingly strong hold. He looked about the many grave faces and finally rested on Antonio continually pacing in the corner, his tanned-face surprisingly pale. A wave of concern washed over him. "What has happened?" Francis answered grimly. "Lovino's gone missing. We got drunk last night and none of us recall him coming back so now we're sending search parties out for him. We're already down by one man with Gilbert too hungover." The blond attempted a smile, somewhat suspiciously too sweet. Kiku didn't need the persuasion and spoke firmly. "Of course I will help find Lovino." Immediately a flash of a hand grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the door. Loudly, Alfred shouted: "Team Heroes are beginning the mission!" And then disappeared with Kiku on his arm almost as pale as Antonio, the door slamming on their sudden exit.

Silence engulfed the café for a moment, Arthur disgruntled as he then announced to everyone still present. "We'll have groups of two then. Francis and Antonio can be one and Ludwig and Feliciano the other. I'll stay in case Lovino turns up-" "I will stay." Ludwig said. "I can keep an eye on Gilbert too." Arthur nodded his head and noticed Feliciano grinning at him gleefully, as much as he could do in this situation. He was shocked by the expression, he assumed the Italian would be disappointed to be separated from Ludwig. After all, Arthur had always seen them together since they had first met.

"I guess I'll pair with Feliciano then." Arthur murmured as he made sure everything in the café was orderly. Feliciano took his time saying goodbye to Ludwig and then the four stood outside. The dawn shone beautifully above the rows of the buildings, almost mocking the forbidding atmosphere that hung over the four. All Antonio wanted to do was run off in any direction, anything was better than wasting more time not trying to find Lovino. "We'll go towards the bar we were at last night and circle around there." Francis explained, "You and Feliciano can try the park." Arthur stiffened himself to look taller. "I planned to do that anyway." He said with a sharp edge to his voice. Francis rolled his eyes. "This isn't the time to play games, Arthur, leave all of that in the past for a little while, oui?" Francis sighed. It seemed even behind Arthur's glare his eyes softened and he gently pulled Feliciano down the path silently.

Francis shook his head. "That man always causes trouble, no matter how much he tries to be an adult." He reflected more to himself than Antonio. His partner silent and gloomy, the two things that had never resonated from the man before. "Come on Toni, the sooner we find him the better. And we will find him." Francis added as he led his heart-stricken friend towards the bar, turning his head around once to see Feliciano and Arthur disappearing in the distance. Arthur was reasonably content with Feliciano. He wasn't Francis for one, and his smiles were always so bright happy; a contrast to his missing brother. Feliciano could fill silence with endless chattering about one thing or another and Arthur could just listen or say one or two things before Feliciano changed to another subject. However, even happy Feliciano looked solemn as they drew closer to the park. Early morning mist drifted over the grass and the place appeared abandoned, the crunching of their shoes on the gravel louder than usual. Feliciano ran ahead towards the large duck pond, swivelling his head frantically and shouting Lovino's name. Arthur followed a little further behind, scanning around far more closely than Feliciano's jerky movements. Eventually Feliciano began walking beside Arthur again, quietly speaking about the shared childhood they had had. "Lovi never liked playing with other kids, especially if there was any boys around. Usually he would say some excuse and rush home or be rude to them or just say nothing at all until he dragged me away after. I guess he knew even back then he liked boys and not pretty girls." Arthur snapped awake when he realised there was a pause "Some people do, others it takes some time." "How long did it take you?" Taken aback by Feliciano's big curious eyes Arthur had to think for a moment. When had he known? He thought for a moment. "I suppose I was about eighteen. This younger girl had a thing for me, I can't recall her name but it lasted for a little while, and when she kissed me it just...well, I'm sure you know." Arthur ended with a small chuckle. He could picture the girl at least: dark hair, warm smile and completely obsessed with him. Well, actually, it may have been the other way around. In his younger years he was definitely obsessed with being with a girl, perhaps to deny his true emotions. He hated his past self with a passion. "I used to play kiss-chase with pretty girls, but that was just for fun." Feliciano said, giggled, and then grabbed Arthur's hand. Arthur froze. His first thought was to yank his hand away but Feliciano was squeezing too hard and the contact was warm and pleasant. When was the last time he had held someone's hand? That girl he had mentioned? His head was spinning. "Why, uh, why are you holding my hand?" Arthur uttered, his cheeks hot. Feliciano giggled as if it were obvious. "I hold all my friends' hands." To emphasise he swung their entwined hands into the air and down again. "And even though you're grumpy all the time you have a big heart and I trust you." Arthur stared down at this cheerful Italian. Big heart? Not many people said that to him, ever. He shook his head and noticed that a few early walkers were mingling about the park now. His hand slipped out of Feliciano's immediately as a businessman walked briskly past them. Arthur felt safe within his café, but out in the world one glance from a stranger caused his skin to crawl. Some things didn't change. Feliciano sighed, disappointed by Arthur letting go of his hand. Sometimes Ludwig did that too depending on who was around, Feliciano understood why but he hated having to hide from people. If he could, he would shout how much he loved Ludwig to the world. "The sun's getting higher now, we should hurry around here and try somewhere else." Arthur muttered and sped up his walk. Reluctantly Feliciano did the same.

Kiku nearly keeled over when he rested against a low wall. His heart had stopped when Alfred had grabbed him earlier and had since been dragged all over London; the young American had enough energy for an eternity. The morning had been filled with Alfred's bellowing voice shouting for Lovino and generally annoying any person that came close to them about where the short Italian might be. However, Lovino still hadn't turned up.

Kiku sucked in a deep breath. "Maybe we should slow down, we may miss him otherwise." Alfred wasn't listening, instead he was bouncing on his toes and apparently trying to look over walls and buildings alike. "Why is London so confusing? It'll take all day to find him at this rate." Kiku seemed grim. "That's if we do find him." He said, doubtfully. He liked Lovino, for Feliciano's sake, but London was a big place and finding the lost Italian in a few hours seemed unlikely. Alfred suddenly leaned very close to Kiku's face, his heart skipping a beat and a knot tightening in his stomach.

"Come on now, that's not hero talk. We'll find Lovino and get him back to Antonio safe and sound." "You're so optimistic, Alfred." Kiku said shyly. He looked very handsome when he had his heart set on something, just like his music. Alfred grinned. "Of course! Someone has to don't they?" Kiku involuntarily smiled, but was once again pulled to his feet by his wrist and sprinting down the path, Alfred laughing somewhat obnoxiously. Further up the street, they met a woman with shoulder length sandy hair and striking emerald eyes which bared a resemblance to Antonio somehow. By the time Kiku could process the fact that they had stopped, Alfred had already engaged in a conversation.

The woman's speech was clipped by a Belgian accent. "Is he about this tall?" She held up her hand to about Lovino's height. "And swears a lot?"

Alfred's excitement escalated, which Kiku didn't think was possible. "Yes, yes, that's him!"

The Belgian woman nodded gratefully. "Ah, I was beginning to think he had no family. He's just at my apartment I share with my brother. Follow me."

The sun was slowly making its way to the horizon and Francis and Antonio were still out looking for Lovino. They still were also Lovino-less and Antonio seemed nearly hysterical. He was speaking loudly in a mixture of English, Spanish and random words of Italian.

Francis sighed. "We need to go back to the café, Antonio. Before you have a heart attack."

"I'm staying out here to find him!" Antonio shouted firmly. Francis shook his head. "No Toni. You need to rest, we can carry on looking later but right now you need to go back to the café." It took a good ten or so minutes to convince Antonio to go back to the café, his face falling as the hours ticked by without Lovino's angry voice. His Italian wasn't by his side and it didn't feel right at all.

Antonio thought he was dreaming when he entered the café. At the bar sat beautiful amazing Lovino, and his beautiful amazing fingers nursing a coffee. Antonio almost practically leapt on him, but was cut short by the steely glare Lovino threw at him, one of the coldest Antonio had seen in a while. Antonio's breath caught in his throat.

"Lovino, where have you been? We've been looking for you all day!" Francis broke the uncomfortable silence.

Lovino looked bak down at the black liquid in his mug. "I was picked up by this nice lady and we — she let me stay for the night." If the lack of swearing wasn't odd enough, Lovino then stood up and made to leave the café without finishing his coffee. He stood for a brief second next to Antonio, stealing a gaze in his direction. Antonio wasn't sure whether it was full of shame or disappointment, either way Antonio felt even more dread replace the relief in the pit of his stomach. Lovino left the café. Antonio and Feliciano followed.

Once back at the apartment, Lovino locked himself in his and Antonio's room. He collapsed on the crumpled sheets, more than ready for sleep to engulf him. Antonio's scent clung to the mattress, reminding Lovino of his betrayal. A betrayal the Spaniard must never know. Thumps on the door interrupted Lovino's thoughts, as Antonio's muffled voice through the cracks followed.

"Lovino? I know you're mad at me but please say you'll forgive me." Mad at him? Why would Lovino be mad at him? "All that I can say is that I am so sorry and that I'll never leave you behind again." Oh. _Oh_. Antonio thought Lovino was mad at him because Antonio left Lovino behind. Some boyfriend. Why wasn't he mad then? He guessed he was too hung up on what happened last night. Shamefully so, he contemplated on telling Antonio, or anyone at all for that matter. Silence stole Antonio's words away. Lovino felt terrible leaving Antonio in the dark like that, but it would cause more grievance if he did come clean.

A quieter, more timid knock came then, followed by, "Lovino? Can I come in?" It was Feliciano. Perfect Feliciano, with his perfect art school and his muscly boyfriend. His envy would be the death of him. All the same, he couldn't say no to Feliciano. He reluctantly dragged himself to the door and unlocked it. Feliciano threw his arms around his brother as soon as he was able, and looked to be on the verge of tears.

"I was so worried." Feliciano's words were smothered by Lovino's shoulder. It was times like this Lovino was reminded of how much Feliciano felt towards him, and that he wasn't able to reflect these emotions back no matter how hard he tried, if he tried at all. Lovino awkwardly patted his sibling's back, and then broke free of the suffocating grip. Lovino stepped back a bit.

"Oh Lovino, won't you forgive Antonio? He said he's sorry and that he'll never do it again. You know, he was out all day looking for you. He missed lunch and everything. He'll never do it again so please forgive him." Feliciano said in a rush.

Lovino pondered for a second whether to tell Feliciano about last night. He decided against it. Instead, he spun on the spot and started walking back towards the bed. "I'm not mad." He sighed and fell back into bed. He raised his voice so Antonio could hear. "I just want to fucking sleep."

* * *

 _To be continued..._


	5. Moving

**This story has been moved!**

 **Due to the fact Fatal Fandomer and I have started collaborating on stories a lot more recently, we've decided to make a home for these** **collaborations.**

 **Search 'Fatal Wonderland' under Authors then we will come up.**

 **This story will be continued on that account.**

 **Thanks and enjoy reading :)**


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